Parenting with Confidence,
Intention, and Connection

Hello and Welcome. My name is Cindy Kaplan. I am a parent coach and conscious family therapist. My work is devoted to your parenting journey. To helping you to show up fully for yourselves and your children and to cultivating connection and ease in your experience as a parent.

My practice is rooted in consciousness and leverages mindful practices such as meditation and yoga as tools in supporting my clients. As a parent of a special needs child, I specialize in working with families of these very special children.

What is Parent Coaching

Parent coaching is a collaborative process between a parent(s) and coach that works to clarify the family’s strengths and the ideals to which they aspire. In doing so, parents gain a deeper understanding of their individual children’s temperaments, understand their parenting styles, and the strengths and challenges that accompany them. The parents and coach work together, developing a vision and implementing strategies, as well as acquiring tools to work toward that vision. The coaching process is deeply supportive and non-judgmental. When parents gain more consciousness to their own parenting and the personal triggers that lead them to challenges with their children, parenting becomes easier. Parents discover the power of their internal knowing, allowing them to find the connection, confidence and the joy they have been seeking.

Some benefits of parent coaching:

GainClarity

Gain clarity on what is most important to you. What are the non-negotiable boundaries you want to set within your family? Be clear on what you want and avoid unnecessary power struggles.

GainAppreciation

Deeply understand and accept your children for who they are and learn to create the conditions for them to thrive.

GainConfidence

Establish clear boundaries and learn how to set limits with connection. When we are confident as parents, our children feel secure and safe to be themselves.

UnderstandYour Kids

With greater understanding of your children’s behavior you can address what lies underneath the behavior, allowing the behavior to fade as well as work with them on developing skills for their success.

Make Better Decisions

Eliminate the roadblocks so you can be in a centered place where good decisions take place. Enjoy parenting!

Learn
Tools & Strategies

Interact with your children that support both you and your child in ways that work for your specific family. Practice specific tools and strategies that allow you to pause and respond rather than react.

WHO BENEFITS FROM PARENT COACHING

• Any parent who is struggling with the day-to-day challenges of parenting.
• Parents who have just stepped into the role of parenting and feel overwhelmed.
• Parents who have recently received a diagnosis for their child and could use help and support navigating this new territory.
• Parents who are intrigued, humored, and stumped by parenting their adolescents and want to stay connected to them.
• Parents who are simply feeling they need coaching to parent the way they truly want to parent.
• Parents who struggle with the parenting style of their co-parent and who fear the disharmony may impact their family unit.
• Parents who feel they have lost themselves while parenting their children and would like to find a way back.

• Parents who are struggling to regulate screen time with their children.

Any other parent who does not fit the above descriptions but would like some support and guidance … Truly there isn’t any parent who couldn’t benefit from working with a parent coach — we spend years in school learning to do math, but aren’t given any instructions on how to do parenting — a most important task — well.

Get to Know Cindy

Cindy has worked as a parent coach, a family therapist and a yoga practitioner. She is a certified Parent Coach through the Parent Coaching Institute in Seattle, which is the only graduate level training program in the US that offers certification in parent coaching. Cindy’s parenting was profoundly affected by yoga after her daughter was born with cerebral palsy and she became licensed as a practitioner of Yoga for the Special Child. Cindy has also facilitated educational support groups and parenting workshops on a variety of topics.

To learn more about Cindy and understand her philosophy click on her photo above.

Services

PRIVATE COACHING

Working with a parent coach gives parents the chance to be heard, to clarify what’s important to them and to make conscious decisions about how they want to parent. It allows parents the opportunity to step back from the day-to-day struggles of parenting and instead, refocus on the ways they always hoped they would parent. In working with a coach, parents work to both clarify their own values and understand their child and the child’s behavior. Throughout the coaching process, parents discover, practice and adopt new perspectives and tools that allow them to parent consciously and from their core — a place that is centered and authentically based on their values and beliefs.

Some of Cindy’s specific areas of expertise, include:

– PARENTS OF KIDS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS –

The moment a child enters our lives, our world is forever changed. We begin placing expectations and visualizing our life with a child long before they even enter the world. When something unexpected happens to our child either before or during birth, or some point during their childhood, dreams, visions, and expectations are shattered. As parents of children with special needs, we carry a chronic sense of responsibility that doesn’t always lessen over time. Whether the special needs are physical, emotional or developmental, we can find ourselves feeling isolated and overwhelmed. Taking care of ourselves as parents is challenging and when parenting a child with special needs that becomes twice as challenging and twice as important!

Cindy’s work with parents of children with special needs focuses on a variety of issues including those that arise when parenting more than one child in the family, the complexity of sibling relationships, and ways for parents to care for themselves so that they can be the parent they need to be for their children.

– PARENTS SEEKING TO REGULATE SCREEN TIME –

Almost every home in America with children under the age of eight use mobile devices in addition to televisions and personal computers. While technology can serve us, over exposure to screens in children can have a negative impact on cognitive and emotional development. It can also delay language development in toddlers and impair social skills. Cindy works with parents, teaching them how to have empowering conversations with their kids, including them in the process of moderating screen time and giving them the power to make good decisions for themselves.

HOW IT WORKS
When coaching with Cindy, you will have her with you shoulder to shoulder for three months on average. Coaching can be helpful for one or two parents, step-parents and grandparents, as well. Sessions are typically one hour in length and are conducted weekly or bi-weekly, in person, over the phone or via Skype so you can get the support you need from wherever you might be.

YOGA FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Yoga is a powerful tool when working with children who have special needs. As a vehicle for both physical and emotional connection, yoga helps to create safety, develops motor skills and increases confidence and social skills. You can read about Cindy’s experience with yoga and her own daughter as well as how to introduce your child to the practice, HERE.

HOW IT WORKSYoga sessions are facilitated in the homes of Cindy’s clients and can be purchased individually or in a five-class package.

WORKSHOPS

Cindy leads workshops and presentations on a variety of topics from conscious parenting to self-care. To see where Cindy is next CLICK HERE.

Workshops include but are not limited to:

THE CONNECTED PARENT

Connection is perhaps the most necessary ingredient for personal growth, resiliency, and self-worth. Even with the best of intentions, we disconnect from our children multiple times a day. When our kids feel disconnected, they exhibit undesirable behavior, our buttons get pushed, and we react. When we understand what is beneath their behavior, we can disconnect in order to really connect. We will learn the difference between connecting and disconnecting language, gain an understanding of our children’s behavior, and gain confidence in maintaining authority with limits and boundaries through connection.

THE TEEN YEARS: DEVELOPING AND MAINTAINING CONNECTION

The teen years can be trying and worrisome if we allow it. This is a time in our child’s life where connection is key to helping them be resilient and knowing who they are as individuals. Our years with them at home are now limited and we need to choose whether we connect or disconnect with them at multiple moments throughout the day. They can be our greatest teachers when we allow them to find and speak their voice and to be there for them when they need us. Parents will learn how to not take their teen’s words and behavior personally, keep quiet when they are ready to judge and yell, and show them that they have their child’s back.

TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF (THE BEST GIFT YOU CAN GIVE YOUR CHILDREN)

We are living in a culture that has placed high value on putting our children first. The best parenting award goes to the parent who drops everything to bring a forgotten folder to school, assists in making the most beautiful school project, or attends every single baseball game or skating event. While putting our children first, we have lost our selves and our relationships with our partner, resulting in resentment and tension with our kids. In this presentation/workshop we will discuss how taking care of ourselves is actually the best gift we can give our children.

CONSCIOUS PARENTING

Conscious Parenting is truly accepting our children as unique individuals, and supporting them in becoming their most authentic selves. It is awareness of our standards and beliefs, societal pressures, and their impact on our ability to be present to what we truly believe is best for our family. Parenting consciously allows us to hold boundaries our children need while nurturing connection, the most essential aspect of the parent-child relationship.

In this workshop parents will learn to recognize their triggers, understand their child’s behavior, and gain tools to set boundaries from a calm and centered place. As a result, parents will foster greater connection with their child, thus allowing both parent and child to be their most authentic selves. Based on the work of Dr. Shefali Tsabary.

COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING: FROM PUNISHMENT TO PROBLEM SOLVING

(From the Think:Kids program at Mass General Hospital)

Think:Kids Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) is a model that focuses the parental lens on a collaborative strength-based, neurologically-grounded approach created by Massachusetts General Hospital’s Department of Psychiatry. CPS provides parents with concrete tools to better understand and parent their children and adolescents in the face of ordinary, day-to-day challenges – e.g., getting to school, screen time, homework, bedtime – to more serious challenges. It’s based on the understanding that kids lack the skill, not the will, to behave well – specifically skills related to problem solving, flexibility and frustration tolerance. Unlike traditional models of discipline, the CPS approach avoids the use of power, control and motivational procedures and focuses instead on building connected relationships and thinking skills.

While technology can serve us, over exposure to screens in children can have a negative impact on cognitive and emotional development. It can also delay language development in toddlers and impair social skills. Cindy works with parents, teaching them how to have empowering conversations with their kids, including them in the process of moderating screen time and giving them the power to make good decisions for themselves.

Cindy has facilitated workshops at locations including:

The Loved Child – Belmont, MA

New England Center for Couples and Families – Arlington, MA

Temple Beth Shalom – Needham, MA

Newton Community Education – Newton, MA

Strong Roots Counseling – Watertown, MA

Gateways – Access to Jewish Education

Wellington Management – Boston, MA

It's so easy to talk to Cindy. She listens carefully and attentively and asks thoughtful, clarifying questions that really zero-in on the heart of any topic. Cindy is empathetic, funny and centered in her parent coaching. I find she is able to connect the dots very quickly and see family matters from the perspective of all parties involved. It is comforting to talk with someone so completely supportive and non-judgmental about personal issues. Her positive energy has helped me reflect on my parenting in a useful, constructive way.

-- Parent of 3 Kids (Ages 10, 12, 15)Coached by Cindy Kaplan

Cindy Kaplan is a dear friend and trusted parent coach who incorporates the creative arts in her work with families.
What makes Cindy especially SPECIAL and TALENTED is that she is an EXPERT IN FAMILIES OF SPECIAL NEEDS.
A mom of a beautiful daughter with special needs, she is particularly astute at working with these issues. If you ever are looking for a resource for special needs, including ADHD, and other organic deficits, please feel free to find her and gain her expertise. She is also a wonderful speaker and leads workshops around the country.

Parenting is hard! My wife and I really wanted to do it well, but we had been getting by with trial and error (lots of both). We needed a better way to build our parenting skills and confidence. Cindy was the perfect solution! She has a wealth of knowledge on parenting along with a warm and engaging style that made it easy for us to discuss our challenges and work on solutions. We've learned so much -- her approach provided us with specific tools and techniques we could put right to work. I'm happy to say it's made a huge difference and our whole family works better together as a result of our time with Cindy.

-- Another Happy FamilyCoached by Cindy Kaplan

Working with Cindy was truly a transformative experience. As a busy mom and surgeon, I was looking for a practical and efficient approach to help me be a better parent. Cindy helped me identify how I wanted to parent. Cindy worked with me to better understand my boys (5 & 7) and their unique personalities and needs, as well as my needs as a parent. We worked together on solutions that were sustainable, individualized, flexible and worked for our family. Since working with Cindy, getting out of the house in the morning, coming home from work, homework, getting dinner on the table, getting ready for bed (all simple, but complicated, things) all happen with more of a sense of calm and control. It has been about a year since our sessions and I have changed as a parent for the better -- as a result the kids are better behaved and our whole family is calmer and happier. I am so thankful that I went through this process -- and so are my kids!

-- Parent of 2 Kids (Ages 5 and 7)Coached by Cindy Kaplan

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a workshop led by Cindy and presented by my employers internal parents group. The session, Taking Care of Yourself (the best gift you can give your children), left me feeling empowered to take time for myself without feeling guilty. Cindy’s approachable demeanor encouraged questions and audience participation, overall I found it to be a very worthwhile event!

-- Empowered ParentCoached by Cindy Kaplan

Like many parents, we have experienced varying degrees of feeling like we know what we are doing while raising our kids. This past spring we came to a place of feeling stuck in a rut and were relying on parenting techniques that weren't effective, so we began to look for someone who might guide us in growing us as parents.We had the fortune of meeting Cindy and working with her was a wonderful experience! She challenged us (in a good way) and with her support we have been able to gain more perspective as parents during challenging moments, and are learning take more advantage of the opportunities to both appreciate when things are going smoothly at home and went to take a deep breath, step back, and consider how to approach different situations in constructive ways.Thank you Cindy!

-- Growing as ParentsCoached by Cindy Kaplan

I love it because it is so personalized. My kids never fit the scenarios in the books and that was frustrating. Coaching looks at each family member as a unique being that doesn't have to fit the book's protocol.

-- One Amazed ParentCoached by Cindy Kaplan

Strong Roots Counseling was thrilled to access Cindy's considerable expertise with families when we offered a group for parents who were balancing the needs of siblings, specifically when one had a mental or physical health need. An incredibly underserved parent population, Cindy deftly balanced the practical with the supportive, allowing these parents to form a cohesive group that extended beyond their time together with Cindy. At the end of the series, all participants were asking for more.